KR100296893B1 - Method of manufacturing electrical terminals and terminal modules - Google Patents

Abstract

Disclosed is a method of making electrical terminals and / or terminal modules 36. The method of the present invention comprises a plurality of elongated terminals having contacts 30 at one end and terminals 28a, 28b at the other end of the sheet of metal material and connecting the terminals by tie bars 16 in the middle of the ends. Stamping the blank 10 for. The contacts 30 of each terminal are separated from each other by a stamping step. Terminal portions 28a and 28b remain connected to the sheet of metal after the stamping step. The blank is then sheared to separate the terminal portions 28a, 28b. The tie bar 16 is then cut to separate the terminals. Dielectric housing 34 is overmolded around the terminal in the middle of the ends to form terminal module 36, with tie bar 16 positioned outside of the housing and removed after the overmolding process.

Description

METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ELECTRICAL TERMINAL AND TERMINAL MODULE {METHOD OF MANUFACTURING ELECTRICAL TERMINALS AND TERMINAL MODULES}

The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical connectors, in particular to terminals for such connectors. In particular, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing or assembling an electrical terminal comprising a terminal used for a terminal module.

Conventional electrical connectors include an insulating housing or dielectric housing with a plurality of terminals. The connector may be mated with a mating mating connector or other connecting device in which the terminal engages or mates with the terminal of the mating connector.

In the prior art, it is known to produce terminals for electrical connectors by stamping and molding the terminals from a continuous sheet or strip of metal material. Sheet metal material portions are removed leaving a profile of the terminal during a stamping or punching operation, and these profiles are molded into a predetermined shape. Terminals are typically connected by carrier strips and / or tie bars of sheet metal material to facilitate material movement and to facilitate continuous manufacturing operations in the order of processing locations. For example, stamped and molded terminals may be transported to a processing position, where the terminals are overmolded by the dielectric housing to form the terminal module. The entire module including the overmolded terminal can then be inserted into the electrical connector housing in one piece.

As the trend for miniaturization of electrical connectors continues to grow and the demand for high density terminal arrangements continues, stamping and forming processes continue to be an obstacle to achieving this goal. One problem involves the stamping or punching operations themselves. As described above, when the sheet metal material is stamped into a blank of a predetermined shape and subsequently molded into a terminal, the sheet metal material is essentially removed leaving a predetermined profile between the terminals. Thus, the density or pitch between each terminal is limited by the width of the punching tool portion and the width of the terminal portion or solder pad to reduce the final strength of the molded solder joint. That is, the terminals cannot be stamped at positions immediately adjacent to each other. The present invention addresses these problems as a manufacturing method comprising a sequential fabrication step comprising a stamping and shearing process that results in a higher density terminal arrangement and / or a wider width terminal portion since no metallic material is removed between the sites. To solve.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a new and improved method of manufacturing an electrical terminal comprising a terminal module.

In an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, the method of the present invention generally has a blank for a plurality of long terminals which connect the terminals by means of tie bars between the ends with contacts at one end and with terminals at the other end with a metallic material. Stamping from the drawn sheet. The contacts of each terminal are separated from each other by a stamping step. The terminal portion remains connected to the sheet metal material. The blank is then sheared to separate the terminal portion. The tie bars are then removed to disconnect the terminals.

The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a terminal module using the steps described above. In particular, the dielectric housing is overmolded around the terminal in between the ends with the tie bar positioned outside of the housing. The tie bar can then be cut to separate the terminals to insulate the terminals by the dielectric housing.

As disclosed herein, the method includes forming at least some terminals away from the plane of the sheet metal material after the shearing step. In particular, the terminal portion of the terminal is shaped such that the alternating terminal portion is arranged in one plane and the remaining alternating terminal portion is disposed in the second plane. At least some of the terminal portions are molded on one side of the sheet metal material. By having the terminal portions in two planes, the terminal portions can be used as solder pads for connecting circuit traces on both sides (or opposite sides) of the printed circuit board at the corners.

Further, the preferred embodiment described in the text includes a carrier strip connecting one end of the terminal after the stamping step, from which the finger protrudes inwardly. During the forming step, the finger portion is molded out of the plane of the sheet metal material on the same side as in some terminal portions. Thereby, the finger portion supports the conveyed sheet and protects the molded terminal portion.

Other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Features of the invention, which are considered novel, are described in detail in the appended claims. The invention can be best understood from the following description with reference to the accompanying drawings, together with their objects and effects. Like reference numerals in the drawings denote like elements.

1 is a plan view of a blank stamped from a sheet metal material according to a first step in the method of the present invention;

2 is a plan view of the blank after the shearing step.

3 and 4 respectively show a plan view of the blank after the forming step.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line 5-5 of FIG.

Figure 6 is a perspective view of a stamped and molded blank having a dielectric housing overmolded around to form a terminal module.

Figure 7 is a plan view of the assembly of Figure 6 with the carrier strip removed.

8 is a view similar to FIG. 7;

9A and 9B are exploded perspective views of one type of connector in which a terminal module can be used.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

10 blank

12: leg

14: Web

16: Thai Baa

18: carrier strip

20: finger

22: index hole

24, 26: shear line

28: alternate terminal

30: contact part

1 shows a blank 10 stamped or punched from a continuous sheet or strip of metal material at an early stage of the manufacturing method according to the invention. The stamping process removes the metal material to leave a profile that includes a plurality of long legs 12 that are eventually formed into contacts of the long terminals. The terminal includes at its ends an edge terminal portion formed from a continuous web 14 of sheet metal material. Continuous tie bars 16 connect the legs 12. The continuous carrier strip 18 is connected to the continuous web 14 by fingers 20. Basically, the finger 20 is aligned with the leg 12. The row of index holes 22 are punched in the carrier strip 18 to facilitate moving the blank along the sequential position of the continuous punching press as is known in the art.

The blank 10 is then transferred to a shear position where the continuous web 14 (FIG. 1) is sheared at line 24 in FIG. 2, and the alternating finger 20 is sheared at line 26. The sheet metal material between the shear lines 24 is subsequently formed into the terminal portions of the long terminals. As shown in Figure 2, the material is not removed from the sheet metal in the shearing process as in the stamping or punching process. That is, the shear lines 24 and 26 are manufactured by shearing the blades in a 'scissor' type operation, leaving the terminal portions 24 immediately adjacent to each other. This makes the terminal section as wide as possible. The wire terminals allow for stronger solder connections or harder sliding contact connections than those available in the narrow terminal sections that are molded from stamping and not shearing.

The blank stamped and sheared in FIG. 2 is then shaped as shown in FIGS. In particular, the distal end of leg 12 is shaped out of its plane to define a round contact or surface 30. The alternating terminal portions 28a are molded out of the plane of the sheet metal material and placed in one plane, while the remaining alternating terminal portions 28b are in the original plane. Thus, the alternating terminal portion 28a is essentially located in the first plane, and the alternating terminal portion 28b is located in the second plane. The alternating terminal portion 28b is still connected to the carrier strip 18 by an alternating finger 20b, but the remaining alternating fingers 20a (sheared from the terminal portion 28a) are actually placed in the plane of the terminal portion 28a. It is molded out of the plane of the metal material. Finally, the distal end or the distal end of the terminal portion 28a is shaped to open upwards or outwardly as shown at 32.

The stamped and molded blanks shown in FIGS. 3-5 may then be transported to the next location for further manufacture and / or assembly into the electrical connector. During this conveyance, the continuous stamped and shaped metal strip can be wound on a reel and separated by a material such as paper or a conveying sheet. The molded finger 20a and the terminal portion 28a form plane points on which the first surface of the conveying sheet can be placed so that the molded finger 20b and the alternating terminal portion 28b are formed of the conveying sheet. 2 Decide to form points in the plane where the surface can lie.

According to the present invention, the terminal manufactured by the above-described steps can be manufactured as a terminal module for a single assembly in an electrical connector. In particular, FIGS. 6-8 illustrate dielectric housing 34 overmolded around portions of leg 12 between contact 30 and tie bar 16. The overmolded housing is effective for electrically blocking the terminal and for tightly connecting the terminal to the module for subsequent assembly into the electrical connector.

Before or after the overmolding process, the supporting fingers 20a (FIGS. 3-5) are removed by appropriate cutting operations as shown in FIG. The carrier strip 18 is also removed as shown in FIGS. 7 and 8. The tie bar 16 is also removed by cutting between the terminals, leaving the terminal module 36 completed by electrically separating the terminals.

Finally, Figures 9A and 9B illustrate how terminal module 36 (Figure 8) can be used for electrical connectors. In particular, the terminal module may be constructed of a dielectric or insulating housing 40 such that the terminal portion 30 is disposed in the front protruding plug portion 42 of the housing and the terminal portions 28a and 28b protrude rearward between the wing portions 44 of the housing. It is inserted backwards. As described above, the terminal portions 28a and 28b are arranged in different planes, defining a mouth therebetween, into which a narrow circuit board 48 is inserted in the direction of arrow 'A'. Thus, terminal portions 28a (28b) form solder pads to be soldered to a number of parallel conductors or circuit traces 48a on both sides of circuit board 48.

The subassembly of FIG. 9A can then be assembled into an electrical connector as shown in FIG. 9B. In particular, boot 50 slides onto multiple conductor cable 52. The cable includes a number of individual electrical wires 54. Insulation cladding of the wire is removed to expose a certain length of the conductive core of the wire. The exposed core is then soldered to the conductor 48a of the circuit board 48 to electrically connect the conductive core of the electrical wire of the cable 52 to the terminal portions 28a and 28b of the terminal module 36 in the connector assembly. The boot 50 is then moved forward in the direction of arrow 'B' in a latched engagement with the latch 56 to form a completed electrical connector assembly.

The invention can be realized in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or central nature of the invention. The examples and examples herein are therefore to be considered in all respects only as illustrative and not restrictive.

By the method according to the invention, further improved and novel electrical terminals can be provided by stamping and shearing them to a higher density terminal arrangement and / or wider terminal portion.

Claims (6)

Stamping blanks from a sheet of metal material for a plurality of long terminals which have contacts at one end and terminals at the other end and which are connected by tie bars in the middle of the ends, the contacts of each terminal being stamped Separated from each other by means of which the terminal portions remain connected to the sheet of metal material; Shearing the blank to separate the terminal portion; Overmolding the dielectric housing around the terminal in the middle of the end with the tie bar positioned on the outer surface of the housing; And cutting the tie bar to separate the terminal. 2. The method of claim 1 including forming at least some terminals away from the plane of sheet metal after the shearing step. 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the forming step includes molding the terminal portion such that the alternating terminal portion is disposed in the second plane. The method of claim 2, wherein the forming step includes forming at least some of the terminal portions on one side of a sheet metal material. 5. The terminal of claim 4, wherein one end of the terminal is connected by a carrier strip with the finger protruding from the carrier strip after the stamping step, wherein the forming step is a plane of sheet metal material on the same side as in the at least some terminal parts. Forming at least some fingers away from the at least some fingers to support the carrying sheet and protect the molded terminal parts. 6. The method of claim 5, including cutting the carrier strip and the finger portion after the overmolding step.